Anime
cinema does not live only from Studio Ghibli. Although his classics
marked generations, there are equally powerful feature films that deserve a
place at the helm. These ten "10/10" films are a perfect gateway to
broaden the horizon beyond Ghibli.
The Boy
and the Beast: growing up is also about finding a place
Mamoru
Hosoda's films
often touch on family, identity and maturity. In The Boy and the Beast,
Ren, a boy who has just lost his mother, comes by chance to the Beast Realm and
becomes a disciple of the rough Kumatetsu. The film traces the relationship
between the two – conflictive at first, close with time – and combines
adventure with a very earthly exploration of belonging.
Your
Name: the romance that conquered the world
Your
Name is that
phenomenon that, for pure box office, surpasses many Ghibli films. Makoto
Shinkai signs a love story with a supernatural twist: Mitsuha and
Taki, teenagers from opposite worlds, begin to swap bodies. The film is an
emotional ups and downs with comedy, drama and twists that are sustained by
impeccable visuals and an unforgettable soundtrack.
A Silent
Voice: A Straight Shot to the Heart
With no
supernatural elements, A Silent Voice is a visually beautiful
work and at the same time a human drama rarely seen in commercial fiction.
Shoya Ishida was a bully in childhood; years later, burdened with guilt and
isolation, he tries to reconcile with Shoko Nishimiya, a deaf girl. The film tackles
bullying, depression, social exclusion and suicidal ideation honestly, but
leaves room for kindness and hope.
In This
Corner of the World: War from Everyday Life
It's not
just Grave of the Fireflies that talks about war. Also set in
World War II, In This Corner of the World follows Suzu, a
young woman from a coastal town near Hiroshima. With an almost costumbrist
tone, it shows how conflict contaminates a quiet life with subtle and
devastating blows at the same time, balancing pain and small gestures of
humanity.
Maquia:
motherhood in a fantasy world
The
protagonist, Maquia, belongs to the Iorph, a long-lived race. After
the attack that devastates his home, he finds an abandoned human baby, Ariel,
and decides to raise him. Although the setting is fantastic, the film is an
intimate portrait of motherhood: the unbreakable love, the trials of survival
and the contrast between Maquia's longevity and Ariel's accelerated growth.
Colorful:
A Second Chance in the Face of Guilt
Less known
but deeply moving, Colorful opens with a nameless soul that,
on the verge of leaving, occupies the body of Makoto Kobayashi, a student who
took his own life. In six months, he must find out what Makoto's
"sin" was. The film enters fully into depression and family pain with
honesty, and yet proposes a luminous exit.
Night Is
Short, Walk on Girl: A Night of Absolute Freedom
Anyone who
knows Masaaki Yuasa will recognize his style instantly. This
film follows a college girl's surreal night out in Kyoto: weird, comical,
unpredictable, and charming. It is an expressive and playful work that invites
you to "let yourself go", more interested in experience than in
solemnity.
I Want
to Eat Your Pancreas: Much More Than a Quirky Title
Behind its
misleading name there is a sincere drama. An apathetic boy finds a newspaper in
the hospital and meets its owner, Sakura Yamauchi, who confesses
her terminal illness. She wants to complete a wish list and he ends up
accompanying her. It is a coming-of-age that does not make up the tragedy, but
strikes with a powerful ending.
Look
Back: the vertigo of creating
Released in
2024, Look Back soon established itself as a modern jewel. Two
friends – Fujino and Kyomoto – come together because of their passion for
drawing and dream of being mangakas. What's extraordinary is how the film
conveys love for the act of creating, while also showing the stumbles,
comparisons, and griefs that come with that life choice.
Perfect
Blue & Satoshi Kon's work: identity on the tightrope
Perfect
Blue (1997) is
the debut of Satoshi Kon, a psychological thriller about Mima, a
former idol who changes careers and begins to lose her footing between reality
and fiction. The theme – identity that is blurred – runs through her entire
filmography, from Paprika's dreamlike fantasy to the hopeful
meditation on legacy in Millennium Actress. They are films that are
still valid for their visual pulse and their reading of fame and perception.
